"
"I seen all that, while Dan was sittin' at the foot of the bed. Not that
I don't want him here. When I see him I see the world the way it was
when I was under thirty. When there wasn't nothin' I wouldn't try once,
when all I wanted was a gun and a hoss and a song to keep me from
tradin' with kings. No, it ain't goin' to be easy for me when Dan goes
away. But what's my tag-end of life compared with yours? You got to be
given a chance; you got to be kept away from Dan. That's why I told him,
finally, that I thought I could get along without him."
"Whether or not you save me," she answered, "you signed a death warrant
for at least two men when you told him that."
"Two men? They's only one he's after--and Buck Daniel has had a long
start. He can't be caught!"
"That Marshal Calkins is here to-night. He saw Buck at Rafferty's, and
he talked about it in the hearing of Dan at the table. I watched Dan's
face. You may read the past and see the future, Dad, but I know Dan's
face. I can read it as the sailor reads the sea. Before to-morrow night
Buck Daniels will be dead; and Dan's hands will be red."
She dropped her head against the bedclothes and clasped her fingers over
the bright hair.
When she could speak again she raised her head and went on in the same
swift, low monotone: "And besides, Black Bart has found the trail of the
man who fired the barn and shot him. And the body of Buck won't be cold
before Dan will be on the heels of the other man.
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